page_title: 2017 Westminster attack
section_title: Domestic
hierarchical_section_title: 2017 Westminster attack / Reactions / Domestic
caption_attribution_description: English: Londoners and vistors lighting up candels during a vigil in Trafalgar Square on March 23rd
context_page_description: On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. The attacker, 52-year-old Briton Khalid Masood, drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street, injuring more than 50 people, four of them fatally. He then crashed the car into the perimeter fence of the Palace grounds and ran into New Palace Yard, where he fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer. He was then shot by an armed police officer, and died at the scene.
  Police treated the attack as "Islamist-related terrorism". Masood said in a final text message that he was waging jihad in revenge for Western military action in Muslim countries in the Middle East. Amaq News Agency, which is linked to Islamic State, said the attacker answered the group's calls to target citizens of states that were fighting against it, though the claim was questioned by the UK police and government. Police have found no link with a terrorist organisation and believe Masood acted alone.
context_section_description: Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords resumed their normal functions on 23 March, the day after the attack. A one-minute silence in honour of the dead was observed in Parliament, and by London's emergency services, at 09:33. The time was selected to coincide with the start of the day's official parliamentary business. In the morning session of parliament, Prime Minister Theresa May said that, "Yesterday an act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy, but today we meet as normal ... to deliver a simple message: We are not afraid and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism." In a later statement following the 2017 London Bridge attack, May stated that all three recent attacks were "bound together by the single evil ideology of Islamic extremism". The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, described the attack as "an appalling atrocity". The speakers of both Houses of Parliament jointly offered sympathy to those affected, and thanked the emergency services. The Scottish Parliament suspended the day's proceedings, including a debate on a second independence referendum. Some MSPs who opposed the decision to suspend parliament said that doing so was "giving in to terrorism".
  On 23 March, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh faith leaders met officers at Scotland Yard to discuss responses to the attack. Muslim groups, including the Muslim Council of Britain, Ahmadi Muslims UK, and individual mosques across the country condemned the attack. That evening, there was a public candlelit vigil in Trafalgar Square to honour victims of the attack. It was led by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the Home Secretary Amber Rudd and the Acting Metropolitan Commissioner Craig Mackey and attended by leaders of different faiths.
  The Metropolitan Police honoured PC Palmer by retiring his shoulder number 4157U; Charlton Athletic F.C. announced that his season ticket seat at the Valley would not be occupied at the club's next home game, but would instead have a club scarf placed over it as a mark of respect. A JustGiving fund was set up, with the target of raising £100,000 for his family, a goal attained in less than 24 hours. A group called "Muslims United for London" also raised over £29,000 to support victims and victims' families, releasing a statement saying, "The British Muslim community stands with the community during these difficult times". Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that PC Palmer would be remembered at the National Memorial Arboretum's UK Police Memorial in Staffordshire.
  On 24 March, Prince Charles visited victims of the attack at King's College Hospital; Tobias Ellwood was appointed to the Privy Council for his role in rendering aid to PC Palmer, as was security minister Ben Wallace MP, who helped co-ordinate the government response.
  On 26 March, in an event organised by Women's March on London, roughly 100 women, including many Muslims, joined hands to form a chain along Westminster Bridge and stood in silence for five minutes to pay tribute to the victims of the attack. Amber Rudd appeared on BBC's The Andrew Marr Show to call for government backdoor access to encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp, which Masood used to send a message shortly before the attack. She announced a meeting with similar technology industry leaders for 30 March, where she would persuade them to voluntarily co-operate with the government. She refused to rule out passing new legislation to this end if the companies do not comply.
  Prince William laid a wreath at the Arboretum in honour of PC Palmer on 29 March. In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours, Palmer was posthumously awarded the George Medal.
caption: Candlelit vigil in Trafalgar Square on 23 March
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